Category Archives: creativity

(Frey Freyday is simply a bunch of inspirational, motivational and other quotes meant to make you think, reflect, smile, even laugh a bit. Hopefully helpful, useful stuff..)

An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. –Edwin Land

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Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable. –William Pollard

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Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it’s produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.-Ken Robinson

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Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you’re passionate about something, then you’re more willing to take risks.-Yo-Yo Ma

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Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.-Steve Jobs

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Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.-Erich Fromm

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Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.-Marina Abramovic

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WORD TO LIVE BY:

Creativity [kree-ey-tiv-i-tee, kree-uh-] -the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination
Creativity is so alive in children. We begin to lose it as we get older not because we no longer have the abilities, but because we are more concerned about making a mistake, taking a risk, failing, and what others may think.

In our society today, we do not encourage failing, mistakes, and certain forms of creativity. Most of us stay in our own realm of comfort. It is easier to maintain than to change. However, all of these items make it harder to be creative.

Think about creativity. You can imagine something specific, or you can visualize a whole life time. You can then turn it into a tangible, touchable, feasible reality. It is amazing. Pop culture examples include; 1.) Walt Disney- one man had an idea, now there are huge, dynamic, creative parks, movies, and media worldwide. 2.) the Harry Potter series – the author had an idea, the idea went to paper, then to more books, then to movies, now amusement park rides. 3.) Our founding fathers had a vision of a country free of tyranny and one that gave freedom and rights. It was a discussion, then a theory, then written, now a country.

Anyone can be creative. One thought can build a cure, a building, a way to reach someone, a way to connect or help. We must be willing to surrender the ego, surrender worrying about failures and mistakes and just go for it and take action.

There’s a link between creativity and positive emotions and, ultimately, happiness.Researchers have found that people are more likely to have a creative breakthrough if they were happy the day before. Creativity is less likely to be present with negative emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, and anxiety; it is positively associated with positive emotions such as joy, love, and curiosity.

Positive emotions and creativity make us feel interested in the world around us. The ability to be fascinated and allow ourselves to explore and discover makes us feel open and alive. It’s also what draws us to learn new skills, perspectives, and ideas—resources that we can draw on to solve life’s problems. This boosts our resilience and our satisfaction with life—both part of the equation for overall happiness.

Frey Freyday was actually born out of something I created called “Words To Live By”(WTLB).
Going forward, I will now not only share the quotes, as you may be used to receiving, but also a related (WTLB). In 1999, when we had our first daughter, I was contemplating how I would raise my new beautiful child, and I was thinking about how I can best educate her and my other children about values, morals, and other key thoughts about life. School offers education. Religion offers some values and morals. Parents offer most of it, sometimes intentionally,sometimes accidentally.
..So I created a (WTLB) book, like a dictionary, which lists things like honesty, love, persistence, etc. with a definition that I created, with my wife’s input. I then turned it into a workbook with one word per page and space below for notes. For years we would discuss with my two daughters and they would draw pictures and make notes in the blank space. I may share some of those images with you. As they got older, they were less inclined to draw and more open to quotes and references from adults, hence where Frey Freyday came from..
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BONUS- Ted Talk – the Source of Creativity – We want to be creative but channeling our creative impulses is no small feat. Is creativity something we are born with or can we learn it? In this hour, TED speakers examine the mystery of creativity.

“The first thing you have to do in order to improve your mind is to take total control of your attention and notice: Where are my thoughts right now? Are they positive or negative? Are they helping me feel alive, engaged, and grateful in this moment? Am I present with my current experience or trapped in the past? Are my thoughts supporting me or are they automatically coming up negative and self-protective in ways that are not advancing my life? Just to be aware, to be conscious of what’s going on in your body, in your sense of feeling and emotion now, this is the stuff of becoming mature, connected, and happy.”

People are increasingly turning to mindfulness mediation to manage health issues, and meditation classes are being offered through schools and hospitals.

But doctors have questioned whether this ancient Eastern practice really offers measurable health benefits. A fresh review of the evidence should help sort that out.

Meditation does help manage anxiety, depression and pain, according to the 47 studies analyzed in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday, but does not appear to help with other problems, including substance abuse, sleep and weight.

“We have moderate confidence that mindfulness practices have a beneficial effect,” wrote the author of the paper, Dr. Madhav Goyal of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in an email to Shots. He says the positive effects on anxiety, depression and pain can be modest, but are seen across multiple studies.

“It was surprising to see that with so little training [about 2.5 hours of meditation practice per week] we were still seeing consistent effects,” Goyal wrote.

One type of mindfulness training that was used in many of the research studies is called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (or MBSR). It’s typically taught in eight sessions.

Think of it as Buddhist meditation “but without the Buddhism,” says Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of MBSR. It’s completely secular.

The focus of mindfulness meditation is to train the brain to stay in the moment. To do this, practitioners are taught to let go of the regrets of the past as well as anxieties about the future.

This study reviewed earlier research that evaluated the effectiveness of meditation for managing a whole range of medical conditions — from breast cancer, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia to depression.

With diseases like breast cancer, meditation is not used as a treatment for the disease. It’s supportive care designed to help a person deal with the stress that comes with cancer.

In one breast cancer study, researchers enrolled 163 women with stage 1 or stage 2 breast cancer. The women were randomized to either an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction class or to other kinds of more standard supportive care.

Techniques taught during the meditation class included visualizations to help shift attention away from thoughts that cause anxiety.

One technique is called the body scan. This is where you lie back on a mat and the teacher has you check in with each part of your body

You’re told to relax all the tension in your jaws, then your neck, your shoulders, and so on, down the body. (Here’s an audio link to the body scan.)

The point is stop the mind from wandering off and to connect with your body. Do your toes feel colder than the rest of your body? Are you feeling resistance in any part of the body? The teacher guides participants to tune in.

After four months, the women who meditated experienced significant improvements in what the researchers called quality of life and coping outcomes, compared to the women in other groups.

Clearly, meditation is not for everyone. It’s a discipline that needs daily time and attention.

And in many of the studies meditation was no more effective than medications and other non-medical treatments, including exercise.

In addition, the meta-analysis found little evidence that meditation programs could help treat substance abuse, sleep or weight issues.

But the researchers concluded that meditation has no harmful side effects. And it’s free and something people can easily do at home.

Being rich is all about having the right habits. That’s the message from Tom Corley, who spent five years observing how rich and poor people lived, worked, and even slept. Then, Corley wrote about his research in a book called “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”

Here’s what he found:

First: Be an early bird. Because among people making six-figures a year, about half wake up at least three hours before they have to be at work. Then, Corley says they use that extra morning time to focus on self-improvement like reading and exercising, because those things help them be more productive at work.
Another daily habit that can make you rich:Don’t gossip. According to Corley’s research, wealthy people are a whopping 14 times less likely to say they spread gossip, compared to people earning less than $30,000 a year.

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Also: Spend less time using the Internet. Corley says most people who struggle with money spend at least an hour a day surfing the Web, or watching TV. But rich people are HALF as likely to go online every day. Instead, they spend that extra hour connecting with others in the “real world,” doing things like networking, socializing, and volunteering.

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Another helpful habit: Make more “to-do” lists. Because wealthy people say they cross off 70% percent of the tasks on their to-do list every day – including short-term and long-term goals, meaning, rich people love getting stuff done.

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Finally: According to the book, wealthy people are calorie counters. They generally limit alcoholic consumption, keep their junk food snacks to less than 300 calories per day, and weigh less. And it makes sense that successful people would weight less, 75% of executives in a recent survey said that being overweight is a “serious career impediment.” Overweight people are 3,000 times more likely to get passed over for a promotion. And fair or not, overweight applicants get turned down for jobs more than any other group.

You know, we’ve all been there in one way or another: we’ve been tense and focused on money, maybe stressed, maybe short with our spouse, maybe short with our kids….and in that moment when we’re stressing about money, we’re missing the world around us.

You know what I mean when I say “That awful feeling in the pit of your stomach because you feel like you have to worry about running out of money at the end of the month.”

I’ve been there, then back on “top”, then stressed again, a few times in my life.

I heard a funny thing the other day; someone was saying how they thought ‘rich people’ always think about money and ‘rich people’ are all shallow.

Maybe some are shallow, but in my experience and from what I read, when you had enough money to pay the bills and to live in a decent way, you’re NOT thinking about money much at all. When you have enough to cover the bills, you can think about fun things, about things that you WANT to do in your job and career, and things that you can do for or contribute to others – you can choose to enjoy life a little more.

When I was struggling with income and bills, and when I observe others that have the same struggle to pay bills and meet their obligations, they think about money all day long.

There is a great book that I highly recommend called “Bridges out of Poverty”. It helps explain how people struggling in poverty are constantly thinking about how they are paying the bills, food on the table, tires on the car, utility bills, etc.

Even if we aren’t at the poverty level, we can sometimes have some traits of the poverty mindset……we worry about money, about paying the mortgage, about our jobs, etc. This never creates a good feeling inside, does it?

Again, as someone that has been back and forth, here is some wisdom that I’ve learned from a few others and I believe that it really can help:

Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want – instead of focusing on the bills and lack of cash, focus on the things that you really want, the freedom, peace of mind, better health, better relationships, enjoying life, security for your family, etc.

Watch your self-talk- we all talk to ourselves and ask ourselves questions throughout the day. There is enough negativity in the world, don’t add to it by bringing yourself down. I was someone who beat myself up for many things and once in a while still do – if you do also, STOP. Reflect on accomplishments, look for references why you’re good at something, ask yourself questions like “Why do I deserve this?” and “Why am I so lucky?” instead of things like “Why can’t I earn more money” or ‘why is this such a struggle’ or ‘why don’t I ever win anything?”

Have a vision – ok maybe your life isn’t where you want it to be now and you want to improve – almost everyone does….create a vision. It doesn’t have to be a major complicated thing – something as simple as some bullet points or a paragraph or two is fine – create a simple story of you as you want to be – make the story in present tense as if you already have it – as if you are already “THERE” and you’re looking back on today, when you are struggling. Make sure that in the story you talk about how you’re proud of the steps you took, the hard work, the good attitude, and how you changed for the better. Remember, tell the ideal story of your life as if it is already done!

Enjoy the present, live in the moment – when we worry about the future or fret over the past, we miss moments and experiences right in front of us. I recall a time when my wife and I had time alone and I sat there worrrying about something that never even happened. Another time I recall worrying about something and basically ignoring my daughters when I had a free day with them. We all lost and nothing was gained. Take a moment to look around, be aware, and live today’s life. Things can happen in a moment. Look for miracles. You gotta celebrate life’s moments no matter what. There is no rehearsal.

Here’s something that can be the toughest for any of us – do the above each and everyday. We can all do things for a while or on occasion, or here and there. We have to ask the right questions, focus on the good stuff, reflect on our vision, and enjoy the present every day! We all must take action – even if they are just baby steps each day. Ask, ‘what thing, regardless how big or small, can I do today?” You don’t have to spend long on it – but at least 5 -10 minutes. Can you turn off the TV, put down the phone, or walk away from the computer or ipad for 10 minutes if it makes you better?

Remember, people with much less smarts, ability, education, opportunity have done great things, contributed, made money, helped others, and been successful , you have the ability, you have the power inside, you just need to take action.

Like this:

Hello! I am constantly reading good books and trying to stay up on the latest trends, etc.

Recently I came across something and I’m sharing it with several area firms and I wanted to include you in on it too.

First, it is not my main line of business, although I do assist clients in many ways, I do not proclaim to be a retail expert of any kind. Maybe I can help you in some ways, we can discuss. Otherwise, this is just a FYI.

Regardless, here is a quick summary of 3 that may lead to another idea or two…

Burberry in London – The main Burberry store in London is a cutting edge store that uses existing technology to improve client interaction. Maybe you can learn from some of their strategies.

Outside the store, there are cameras that use facial recognition software so that they can recognize clients and relay information to the retail associates inside – they can greet them when they walk in! This technology is currently not being used outside because clarification is needed on privacy law in the public domain.

Inside the store, this technology is useable. First, the walls are ‘tiled’ with very large TV flat screen TVs that are located all around the store. Either by that method or others, when someone enters, the technology identifies the client and accesses the client’s cumulative purchases from Burberry. It sends sales clerks suggestions for future purchases and past purchases. It automatically then creates a custom presentation on the walls of the store showing these items – then it pulls items from an algorithm about future suggested purchases. When there are multiple clients in the store, there is a slideshow of sorts that presents the cumulative history and possible future purchases for all of the clients.

When a client moves or picks an item off the rack/shelf, it triggers the RFD in the item which then triggers a custom presentation on the nearest wall monitor(s) – example, you pick up a raincoat off the rack – on the wall monitors it shows different models wearing the raincoat, shows craftsmen making the raincoat, and other accessories that often go with the raincoat – almost immediately.

TESCO – a grocery corporation in South Korea has been on the cutting edge for sometime. The subway system there is integral to many, many city residents. Therefore the company got permission and paid to put up photos of many of its most popular grocery items on the walls of the subway. I saw photos and it literally covered most of one area from top to bottom. People can stroll along the wall, scan a code with their phone and order it by phone. In some cases the items are simply “pulled” for later pick up at the store, so all are in a basket conveniently ready to go in minutes. In other cases, Tesco is experimenting with delivery to certain local spots in the city. For instance they may delivery to a neighborhood store, similar to a UPS or FedEx/Kinkos location and they text or notify the customer when it is going to be there so they can pickup. This works well in South Korea with its dense and centralized city dwellings. There is a quick video about this on http://youtu.be/fGaVFRzTTP4

Mercedes:They are doing this in Australia to a large degree…Mercedes Dealers will offer varied services for clients while going to and from the airport, traveling for pleasure or business. Often the Mercedes dealer has a kiosk at a major airport. The client can either get a ride to the airport or in other cases, they can arrive at the airport and after checking in for their flight, they can go to the kiosk and check in ….. While they are away, their car is serviced/repaired and cleaned/washed. Clients can also leave clothes in the car to be dry-cleaned. The clients are often able to ride a golf-cart from the Mercedes kiosk to their gates (inside the airport).

After the client arrives/returns they are likewise given assistance and attention. In the case of the dealership that operates from parking at/near the airport: One dealer at least often will park the client’s car next to a new demo of a superior model (if the client has a C-Class, they park a newer E-Class next to it). The client is invited to leave their car and take the nicer, newer demo home for a period of time.